Mother's Day Gift Giving Guide -- Give the Gift of Puzzles from Alpha Books (Review)

Do you or your mother (in-law) like puzzles?  Then, why not switch it up this Mother's Day with the gift of puzzles.  I, for one, have always liked puzzles, and while going through chemo a few years back, fell in love with Sudoku and logic puzzles.  I find sitting down with a puzzle book to be relaxing, as it keeps my mind busy on the puzzle, and lets me forget about my to-do list or worries, if even for a short time.

Recently, I was sent The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Picture Puzzles, Vol. 2, Puzzle Baron’s Sudoku and Puzzle Baron’s Logic Puzzles, Vol. 2 from Alpha Books to review.  What I loved most about these puzzle books is how they offer varying degrees of difficulty.  I find that when I am tired or just sitting down with a puzzle book, I like to begin slow, and choose an easy to moderate puzzle.  Then, as my mind gets adjusted to doing the puzzles, then I can advance to more difficult puzzles.  For some reason, if I start off with a difficult puzzle and find that I am struggling, I usually will put the book down and forget about it.  Of the three puzzle books sent, I have to say that my favorite was Puzzle Baron’s Logic Puzzles.  I liked how you are given a logic grid solver to use in helping you make logical deductions.  Then, when you think you have solved the puzzle, you can add your answers to the answer key, making it easy to check the correct answer in the back of the book to your final answers.  I loved each and every challenging puzzle in this book, and found myself sticking with this book more than the others, as the logic puzzles really got my mind going.  

But, I have to say that The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Picture Puzzles, as it offered picture puzzles in color, which I found made it more difficult to spot the differences.  A cool feature of this puzzle book was that it gave you an estimated time that it would take someone to spot the differences.  I ended up using the kitchen time to see how I compared when it came to my time in solving each puzzle.  I shared this and the other 2 puzzle books with my husband, and was surprised to find this book missing one day.  He is not usually a puzzle lover, but said that he was hooked after trying to train his eyes one night to spot the differences.  So, he took the book to work, and found that he was pulling it out throughout the day, to give his eyes a break from the computer screen.  He was also surprised at how it helped him relax and unwind, when he was stumped with a problem at work.  

As for the Vol. 2, Puzzle Baron’s Sudoku, I find myself pulling this out when we take long drives to visit my parents.  I was first introduced to Sudoku when flying to Savannah, GA one year, and have since associated these puzzles with travel by car or plane.  This was the first time I tried out puzzle books by Puzzle Baron's and Alpha Books, but it certainly will not be the last.  So, if you or someone you know loves puzzles, why not surprise them with any of the above titles, or other puzzle titles available this Mother's Day or to give as a birthday gift?  Your brain will thank you for it! :-)

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You can find any of the above puzzle books, as well as other Alpha Books titles, for yourself, or to give as a gift, at your favorite local bookstore, as well as online at Amazon.com.

Disclosure:  I was sent samples from the publisher in order to write up an honest review.  The views above are mine and mine alone.